Biden Arrives in Afghanistan to Discuss the War

By DEXTER FILKINS

Published: January 11, 2009

KABUL, Afghanistan -- Vice President-elect Joseph R. Biden Jr. landed here on Saturday for talks with American and Afghan leaders about the war, which the incoming Obama administration has promised to make a priority.

Mr. Biden and Senator Lindsey Graham, a Republican from South Carolina, met Gen. David D. McKiernan, the top commander here, and William B. Wood, the American ambassador, before a visit with American troops. They met later with President Hamid Karzai of Afghanistan.

''Thank you, I mean it sincerely,'' a statement from the international security force in Afghanistan quoted Mr. Biden as saying to American troops. ''It's a big, big deal what you're doing here.''

Mr. Biden's visit to Kabul, the Afghan capital, followed a stopover in Islamabad, Pakistan, where he met with President Asif Ali Zardari and other top Pakistani officials.

Together, Afghanistan and Pakistan are certain to pose some of the toughest foreign policy choices for the incoming administration. The security situation in Afghanistan has markedly deteriorated because of the resurgent Taliban movement, which was removed from power here in the American invasion in 2001. In Pakistan, a nuclear-armed country, an array of increasingly lethal Islamist movements have begun to threaten the state itself.

Neither Mr. Biden nor President-elect Barack Obama has spelled out precisely how he intends to deal with Afghanistan, but both have said that the war effort suffered when resources were diverted to Iraq.

At the request of General McKiernan, the Bush administration already has decided to send more than 20,000 additional troops, who will arrive over the course of 2009. The new troops, plus an additional combat brigade that has just begun to arrive, will join the roughly 68,000 troops already on the ground, of which about 32,000 are American.

Last year, 294 servicemen and women were killed in Afghanistan, making it the deadliest year here since the war began. Of those, 155 were Americans, which also was the highest total of the war. Five American soldiers were killed in bomb attacks here on Thursday and Friday.

Before departing, Mr. Biden shook hands with General McKiernan and said, ''I'm looking forward to working with you.''

PHOTO: Vice President-elect Joseph R. Biden Jr., right, arrived for a meeting with the president of Afghanistan on Saturday. (POOL PHOTO BY MASSOUD HOSSAINI)